Up to 10 million people in rural UK are living in a ‘healthcare desert’

Large rural areas in the UK have become ‘healthcare deserts’ with millions of patients struggling to access hospital treatment and GP appointments.

The Royal College of Nursing’s annual congress heard yesterday that the ten million people living in rural England are being served by exceptionally inadequate healthcare provisions, with the situation being made worse by the closure of GP practices and community hospitals.

At a time when other parts of the NHS are beginning to use app-based healthcare and online systems, substandard broadband and inconsistent mobile service means this is currently unachievable in many rural areas.

The congress also heard that ambulances are sometimes taking nearly an hour to reach patients suffering from life-threatening conditions.

Nurses have said that the government’s vision of the NHS becoming a digital health service will fail while many rural areas cannot get basic 3G mobile phone coverage.

Speaking before the debate at the congress yesterday, nurses recounted their experiences of the struggling healthcare system. One told of having to wait with a patient at a GP surgery who was having a heart attack for 45 minutes before the arrival of an ambulance, and another said that a sepsis patient had had to wait for 55 minutes for an ambulance.

The government’s five year plan for the NHS includes moving towards a more digital service. A spokesperson from the Department of Health said “We are working hard to improve rural connectivity.”

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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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